A group of University of Gdańsk staff participated in the Staff Week - Sustainable Finance organised by Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope. During these few inspiring days, the research and teaching staff and administrative staff of the partner universities of the SEA-EU project had a unique opportunity to learn, integrate, inspire and exchange experiences.

The University of Gdańsk was represented in the Teaching Staff group by dr Magdalena Markiewicz (Department of International Business, Faculty of Economics) and dr Joanna Czerepko (Department of Transport Market, Faculty of Economics), in the Non-Teaching Staff group by mgr Agnieszka Beck (Promotion and Sponsor Contact Team) and mgr Barbara Madany (Academic Culture Centre).

University of Parthenope: ‘Welcome!’

Home to nearly 20 Staff Week participants, the University of Parthenope was founded in 1919 on the initiative of the visionary Vice Admiral Leonardo Cattolico and focused on advancing knowledge of the oceans and seas as a dynamic system of exchange. Today, the University educates nearly 16,000 students who have the opportunity to experience exciting academic life daily in the heart of Naples, Italy's third-largest city with a rich history and cultural heritage.

Participants of the event were welcomed by Vice-Rector for Internationalisation prof. Vito Pascazio, SEA-EU Programme Coordinator prof. Gabriele Sampagnaro, Marialaura Eliani (Internationalization Office) and Giovanna Ivana Apice (International Research Projects Office).

Classes prepared by the event's organisers were held in the Faculty of Economics and Law building, which offered spectacular views of the Tyrrhenian Sea, the archipelago of the Phlegrean Islands and the awe-inspiring Vesuvius volcano.

Sustainable Finance - lectures on the financial aspects of climate risk

The aim of the Sustainable Finance lecture and workshop series, attended by dr Magdalena Markiewicz and dr Joanna Czerepko, was to provide research and teaching staff at SEA-EU alliance universities with an in-depth understanding of how financial practices can be aligned with (environmental and social) sustainability goals.

The event provided a platform for participants to expand their knowledge of sustainable finance practices, innovations and challenges. Through a series of workshops, lectures and discussions, participants gained valuable insights into how finance and sustainability can (and must) coexist harmoniously.

Discussions on the possibilities and scope of financial risk analysis from a nature-related risk perspective were informed by the experiences of international workshop participants representing the University of Gdańsk, University of Split, L-Università ta' Malta, Universidade do Algarve, Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope.

The didactic group focused on the topic of sustainable finance, its continuous and rapid evolution and the challenges faced by modern society.

The Parthenope prepared for the teaching group included lectures on the risk framework in the area of sustainable finance, ESG regulations - their principles, guidelines, the impact of their implementation and methods to ensure transparency and the provision of market information according to ESG criteria - as well as the measurement and management of natural risks from a prudential perspective, the insurance of ESG risks and geopolitical risks in an ESG context.

Integrating climate risk into financial awareness and economic education, exploring financial inclusion and discussing ESG investment strategies were also important elements of the programme.

The research and teaching programme was coordinated by prof. Gabriele Sampagnaro (Department of Business and Quantitative Studies) from Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope together with prof. Claudio Porzio (Vice-Rector for Welfare and Sustainability) and their research team.

The event concluded with a seminar organised at the university's Villa Doria d'Angri, on the theme 'Financial risks linked to nature: challenges and perspectives', with the participation of experts from international institutions (central banks and the OECD), followed by a conclusion and discussion session, allowing participants to share initiatives and projects aimed at promoting the SEA-EU network in the area of sustainable finance.

In addition, Sustainable Finance participants had the opportunity to visit the Museo dell'Archivio Storico Banco di Napoli, documenting the history of Naples through the prism of financial books and transaction records dating back to 1505.

Food & Event Management

Participants representing the administration of their universities (non-teaching staff), who were close to the topic of event organisation, took part in The Staff Week ‘Food & Event Management’, part of the SEA-EU of Parthenope University programme, hearing, among other things, a lecture by prof. Rocco Agrifoglio ‘Event Management in the Food Industry’ on the history of food and its impact on the local economy.

The lecture was enriched by practical experience on the topic and illustrating the essence of organising events with study cases. A particularly important highlight of the programme was a debate on the lessons learned so far from the experience of working with the SEA-EU project. It was the starting point for many of the discussions held during the following days of the event organised by the Italian partners.

The aim of this programme, attended by Agnieszka Beck and Barbara Madany, was to familiarise participants with the powerful potential of food culture, strategy building and the economic performance of businesses linked to the area of traditional regional food production. During the three days of classes, participants explored the history of the production of traditional Italian food and were able to understand how its production and distribution affect the structure of the local economy. The activities were accompanied by presentations, debates and the practical use of co-working spaces. In addition, the programme aimed to identify ways to bring creativity to life in the space through team-building activities.

Thanks to the involvement of prof. Raffaele Fiorentino, participants took part in a 'Pasta Experience Tour' at the family business Pastificio Di Martino.

Neapolitan culture and tradition were introduced by Dr Antonio Leo and Dr Sara Erica Rocco (SEA-EU Office), and the programme was coordinated by Prof Rocco Agrifoglio.

A taste of Neapolitan culture

During the University of Parthenope Staff Week, organised by the University, the Italians prepared a unique team-building activity for the participants of the Food & Event Management programme, which took place at the Associazone Verace Pizza Neapoletana. Participants in the Non-Teaching Staff group learned about Neapolitan pizzaiolo, recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.

The programme of the Staff Week prepared by Parthenope Univeristy aimed not only to develop the hard competencies of its participants but also to get to know Italian culture and thus to better understand (how important for an international project) the relatively new partners in the SEA-EU alliance.

SEA-EU - a project that connects

The uniqueness of the SEA-EU project lies in the fact that it is one of the few projects that brings together administrative and scientific staff from different cultures. The opportunity for people from all levels of the university structure, with different skills and experiences, to work together provides a solid platform for joint solutions and success.

The same was true of this Staff Week. Despite curricular differences due to different types of needs in terms of acquired competencies, both groups had many opportunities to meet in joint activities. This enabled not only networking between the different offices and discussing joint upcoming projects but also building bridges between teams of research and teaching staff and administrative staff even within the same universities and developing a mutual understanding of the tasks we face both in our daily work and the challenges of the SEA-EU project.

The organisers of the Staff Week provided an opportunity for participants to get to know each other and to organise unconventional forms of integration so that facing the tasks of the SEA-EU project together is easier and future plans are realised in a spirit of international, unbridled cooperation and development.

Staff Week took place February 12-14, 2024.